Last Updated on February 28, 2024
Having a clean looking navigation is very important for a successful website. You and I completely understand that large information based websites tag along an enormous amount of pages/categories.
Organizing all of them neatly is quite significant, considering the limited space available. A challenge like this makes us think harder and come up with unique solutions to this problem.
When a user visits a website, they will be provided with multiple options. Obviously a frequent visitor has technically learned how to navigate and use your site to their liking.
Maybe you offer a specific category they are interested in reading, or maybe they are using your site as a resource to do something else. Whatever their need or the overall goal might be, providing them with a pleasant experience is a must.
You simply cannot place all or your categories, sub categories, pages, and modules on a navigation menu. The need for a drop-down menu comes into play to save the day! One of the downsides of a drop down menu might be that first time users are presented with so many choices, that they are overwhelmed with the possibilities.
From there on they might look around and generate a few pageviews for you, while trying to find what they need/want. The scariest route they can take after being bombarded, is leaving your website.
Hover and clickable menus are very common in drop down menu design. To make things less confusing you want the users to see what they are about to click. On the other hand clickable menus are ideal for mobile users.
You can’t really hover with a touch-screen phone. When you use a smartphone to browse the web, you usually have to touch the screen to make your selection. Having both elements is not a necessity, considering that most websites have a separate mobile based design that caters to different resolutions.
Let’s look at some of the most important factors to remember and take away from this article. This is short list, compiled of reminders to help you out.
- Clean and simple to use.
- Remove tooltips from buttons with drop-down menus.
- Clean typography and a readable list are important.
- Advise enough spacing between list items.
- All buttons need a hover effect to be more usable.
- Use the same fonts and a similar background.
- Create an easy to see menu.
- Try to keep the font size the same as the navigation.
- Keep the drop down color different from the background.
- Bulletpoints and icons are great to a certain extant.
Today we have collected a few examples of website that accommodate multiple levels of content hierarchy, some more than others. This drop down menu design inspiration will hopefully help your brainstorming process speed up.
Many different styles are presented, thus providing you with a larger picture. Designing is a challenge as well as coding, this all depends on the elements involved; pictures, icons, rows, and etc.
Note: All of the images are linked to the specified website.